08/22/2025
When it rains it pours.
Ollie is about a year old and came to us from a home that had intact cats who had litters…who had litters, etc. We took seven cats from the home and everyone was in great health despite the overcrowding. Ollie was very scared at the vet for his neuter appt and he would literally scream if he saw a cat anywhere near his kennel. He went to a foster for a few days and we realized he’s a huge love bug. He then went to Whiskers Cat Cafe and Coffeehouse but while he was there he started acting off - we brought him back to the shelter and treated him for an upper respiratory infection and fever. He bounced back and once he was healthy he went to Petsmart adoption center. While there he started with the URI symptoms again so back he came, with another round of antibiotics. From that point on Ollie was just…off. He didn’t look like the healthy, robust catten he’d been when he came to us. He was still insanely sweet and could not get enough attention but it was clear he wasn’t feeling 100%. I pulled out the stethoscope last week to see if I could hear any abnormal lung sounds but Instead I heard a very loud murmur and a very fast heart rate. He went with me to the vet so we could pull blood and send to the lab. Results were unremarkable - slightly elevated white blood cells which tracked with his on and off symptoms and fever. Our wonderful vet was messaging me about him and she said “cats can get an infection in their heart but it’s extremely rare - only 0.006% and 0.018% get it.” He went back to see the vet this past weekend - I was hoping she’d tell me I was crazy and there was no murmur but sure enough she heard it and we measured his heart rate at 360 bpm (normal is 160-220 bpm). He also had a 104.5 fever. We gave him an nsaid and fluids and tried to get him in for a consult at Mizzou. Unable to make that happen, our vet called a clinic near her and asked if they could get him in for additional diagnostics. They graciously opened a spot for him later that afternoon and because I had to drive back to KCMO with cats who’d had surgery, our vet took him over to the clinic. He had an xray (which is amazingly well done and clear and easy to read!) and a test to see if there was a chemical present that indicates heart damage. Heart was normal size and the test was negative. He has some mild changes in his lungs but the vet wasn’t concerned. She said that all the symptoms aligned with endocarditis and recommended he go for an echocardiogram at Mizzou. I wish I had the same odds playing the lotto - 0.006% and 0.018% of cats get this!!!!
The visit to the clinic in Columbia was $200 and the consult at Mizzou will likely be quite a lot since he’ll need more diagnostics. He’s on antibiotics and nsaids now and he is acting much better. His heart rate was still elevated but not as high as 360 bpm.
I’m waiting for Mizzou to contact me about scheduling an appointment and will post updates as I get them. But if you can spare a few bucks to help us pay for this unexpected medical problem we’d very much appreciate it!
